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I find myself seriously going against the grain here, but on this interpretation I disagree with the BRD and all the way-smarter-about-this-stuff-than-me folks who work on that fine pub. I’ve been wrong so many times before, I can’t begin to count them. And, I may be very wrong here. But, I see it differently.
I know malicious contact trumps obstruction, but only when both violations involve to the same runner: i.e.; obstruction does not give a runner license to maliciously contact a fielder during continuous action. In that case, the MC supercedes the obstruction. But, when two different runners are involved in two separate violations during the same continuous action, like in the OP, then the violations are taken in the order in which they occurred.
That said, I’ve got two separate offenses involving two separate players, so they are taken in the order that they occurred. (CB 8-3-2H)
The batter was obstructed by F2. (2-22-1)
The status of the ball was changed to delayed dead. (5-1-2b)
Ruling #1, if R3 was judged not to have made malicious contact with F2:
R3 failed to legally avoid the fielder in the immediate act of making a play on him and/or deliberately knocked the ball from the fielder’s hands and would be declared out. The status of the ball would be unchanged for this base running infraction, unless interference was also ruled. (8-4-2c and/or 8-4-2r)
At the end of continuous action, the status of the ball was changed to dead ball to make awards for F2’s obstruction of the BR. (5-2-3)
There is no sane option, so none is offered. The BR would be awarded 1B and R3 would score, because he was advancing at the TOP, and his base running infraction would, in effect, be nullified. (8-1-1e)
Ruling #2, if R3 was judged to have made malicious contact with F2:
The status of the ball would be changed to dead due to R3’s malicious contact, which can neither be nullified nor ignored. (5-1-1m)
Again, there is no sane option, so none is offered. The BR would be awarded 1B because of the obstruction by F2 and R3 would score because, although unforced, he was advancing at the TOP. But, R3 must be declared out and ejected for his malicious contact. (3-3-1n, 8-1-1e)
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